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Army: Bergdahl learning about coverage of his captivity

Four days after arriving at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has adjusted to a "regular" routine, officials said. And the Army sergeant gradually is being exposed to some of

And the former Taliban detainee who was released from captivity in a prisoner swap gradually is being exposed to some of the media coverage about him and his release, Col. Hans Bush, a spokesman for Army South, said in a statement released Tuesday.

"The reintegration of Sergeant Bergdahl continues here," Bush said. "He has acclimated to his time change from Germany. He is eating and sleeping on a routine schedule. His debriefings and medical care continue."

The Idaho native was held captive for almost five years and was freed May 31 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who were being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In response, the Republican-controlled House added a provision in its $570 billion defense spending bill to bar using U.S. money for the transfer of detainees from Guantánamo.

On Monday, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, the deputy commanding general of I Corps, will lead an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's disappearance and capture.

Army South, which has its headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, is the parent organization of the Personnel Recovery Coordination Cell. The team is the Army's lead in for planning and coordinating reintegration efforts.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, stands with a Taliban member in eastern Afghanistan on May 31, 2014, in this video still from the Voice of Jihad website.(Photo: AP)

When three American hostages were rescued after more than five years of captivity in the jungles of Colombia, this team helped them adjust to their newfound freedom.

Personnel Recovery Coordination Cell staff had planned and rehearsed for years for the return of the three Defense Department contractors. The notorious terrorist group known as FARC — Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — took Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes and Keith Stansell hostage after their plane crashed Feb. 13, 2003, in Colombia.

Just as they did for those three men, the team rehearsed for the Army sergeant's return, Army South spokeswoman Arwen Consaul said.

"We've been practicing every six months since he's been taken," she said.

Phase 3 of the reintegration process includes medical and psychological evaluations, debriefings and family support, she said.

"There's no timeline to it," Consaul said. "It's however long Sergeant Bergdahl needs to help him resume a normal life."

The key to this phase of the reintegration is giving control back to the returnee, Consaul said.

"They've been in an environment where they've had no control," she said. "They've been told what to eat, where to sleep. We're giving them back control of their lives."

Gonsalves, Howes and Stansell stayed with the personnel recovery team at Joint Base San Antonio for 10 days.

The men, who were rescued July 2, 2008, underwent medical and psychological evaluations. They also were coached on seemingly simple everyday things, such as being apart from one another and ordering dinner from a menu.

The men started with delivered meals, were then allowed to choose from a menu in their rooms, then went to the hospital cafeteria and, finally, left the hospital to go to a restaurant.

During their first days at Joint Base San Antonio, the men were put in the same hospital room. They later were asked if they wanted private rooms and then eventually were asked if they were ready to move into quarters with their families because the men hadn't been apart for five years.